Quiver

No one ever thinks of the Spanish Inquisition. ...I'm not apologizing.

YEEEEEEEESSSSSS. ...Sorry. I'm passionate about Warbreaker; it's been my policy since day one to loudly proclaim it as the best cosmere book. I feel gratified that other people recognize that too.

Where is Azor Ahai when we need him? (Or her. The old Valyrian is gender neutral. The point is, someone needs to stop these bots or the night will never end.)

I don't think it's every stated in the books; after all, the royal locks is a much bigger deal on Nalthis. Actually, for that matter, I don't think we know the eye color of any non-Rosharans? I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's really been mentioned anywhere. Brandon doesn't seem like the 'full description down to the buckles on his shoes' type writer, especially if it's not important... and Vivenna's eye color, so far as Warbreaker is concerned, is completely unimportant.

You know, if you think about it, the reputation system means the members here have crazy life stories. "Yep, I tried my hand at bein' a spearman for a while, but I got demoted to a bridgeman. Then it turns out that I'm a halfbreed, and then I get turned into an awakened object! Man, that was a crazy weekend..."

My mighty, infalliable immune system has failed me. I had a bit of a sore throat yesterday, but I didn't think much of it. More the fool I! My head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton, which incidently is what I need for my nose because CELESTIA DAMNIT IT, I HATE SNIFFING CONSTANTLY. Given my track record in the past with these kinds of things, I'm sort of resigning myself to either not sleeping for the next few nights (because why would my body fight the flu when it can fight my efforts to go to sleep instead?) or not sleeping for a few nights because I'll be doubled over a basin. Throwing up can't be good for a sore throat.

What King of Nowhere said. Having magic armor which renders you virtually invincible isn't a plot shield- it may be overpowered, or a game breaker, but that's different. Shardplate is an established story element, a part of the world and the lore being built around it. A character being spared the consequences f their actions, surviving when all internal logic says they should have died, is closer to a plot shield. Frankly, Kaladin surviving his encounter with Amaram in the Way of Kings seems more like a plot-mandated survival than shardplate is, especially given what we see of Amaram in Words of Radiance. As for being invincible in fights... I think it's important to ntoe that, so far, fights have been fairly heavily stacked in the shardbearers favor. That was the motivation for discovering Stormform (at least as far as Eshonai was concerned); they needed somethign to enable them to be able to fight back thanks to dwindling numbers. But that's a point Dalinar raised in the Way of Kings; the Shards are overpowered, because they aren't being used for their intended purpose. They weren't meant to fight men and women with them, because... well, normal men and women don't stand much of a chance against a sword that can cut through anything and a soldier decked out in Iron Man armor. Once the voidbringers, the Thunderclasts, and who-knows-what-other horrors Odium has been cooking up are spilled onto the battlefield, however, it may turn out that these weapons aren't as useful as they appear right now. Same goes for surges, really. Until WoR, we didn't see any surgebinders conflicts, and the only ones we did see were Szeth (a man skiled in their use) using them against opponents who weren't prepared for them. Presumably, surges are going to become more useful (but less effective) against the Odium hoards... and, as they become more common place, more well-known, it's possible that strategies to counteract them, giving typical soldiers a chance, will emerge. Stormkillers, anyone?

I think Argent has the right of it. Looking up sword stances brings up this site, and the sword stance artwork reminds me a lot of those drawings. Also... was that illustration in Way of Kings? I admit, the "Last Clap" kind of bugged me a little in Words of Radiance, but if it was foreshadowed in the first book, then...

Thanks! ...But as for why? I got nothing. The drawing Outis has makes the skirt seem more decorative than functional in my opinion, and I always pictured Sharplate legs as being sealed right up to the waist (especially after Adolin's lines in WoR on the issue).

Elsa is reading Way of Kings? How wonderful! I expect a full report on the friendship lessons you learned from the book when you finish it, princess.

Hmm. This makes me wonder if the Shardblades ability to cut anything is because of intent or something; they turn into giant swords (or spears, or axes, or whatever) with the intent of being able to fight, so they can cut through anything. It makes me wonder how Sprenrope, or sprencuffs would work; would they be unbreakable? Capable of attaching themselves to things automatically? (Actually, the latter makes me think of how Awakened rope works, which is kind of interesting.)

...Wait. The illustrations have skirts? Would you mind linking those illustrations, because... I honestly don't remember that. Now, granted, I use the UK covers, neither of which really show below the chest too clearly, but... I can't remember any instance of chain mail-style skirts. (For that matter, what do you call those armour-skirts? Just skirts? Or is there an offical name for them?)

So... thought I should drop this link in here, along with my reaction to it.

For emphasis, this is indeed the Herd and her royal Majesty, Princess Celestia of Equestria's, official position.

Thanks for the link! I admit, I'd like a narrative-style piece as well, but having an Encylopedia of knowledge at my fingertips is awesome- in fact, I remember having a print copy of something very like that growing up. I've lost it since then, but I still remember it being incredibly useful, so having a copy that I won't wear out or lose is majorly useful. Again, very useful. I probably should re-title the thread, since I suppose I am sort of shifting more towards the question of how to find information on myths in general... and books which actually collect mythologies and folklore would be on that list for sure. Unfortunately, so do I. And the reason I say 'unfortunately' is because for the past few days I've been starting to consider a story featuring the Unicorn Knights of Boz for my Nano entry, rather than what I had planned on using.

I recommend Warbreaker. Not only was it the first book I read after the Mistborn trilogy, I think it works very well as a companion piece to it. I also have to echo sentiments that it might be best to save Stormlight Archive for the end; aside from the fact that the third one might be out by then, they are fairly... hefty books. It might be a good idea to get his shorter stories out of the way before starting Brandon's opus.

I'd kind of like if the Book Names theme was maintained, at least for the first arc... "The Codes of War" sounds like a pretty badchull name for a Dalinar-centric book to me. And yeah, I know it's already been hinted at being "The HIghprince of War", and there isn't really any analogous text for the third book... but my defence to that is that we didn't know Words of Radiance is a reference to an in-universe book until it was released.

You know, I would love it if the Diagram is full of just random advice like that, especially if the advice is completely superfluous to the actual task of defeating the voidbringers and Taravangian follows it anyway. Advice like, "Remember to floss after every meal", or something.

Figured I'd drop this question by, in case anyone happened to have any answers... does anyone know of any good websites for gathering information on mythology? I was really interested in it as a kid, but as I grew older I never really found books that went into much details about myths and legends- at least, not beyond the "big" cultures, like the Greek, Egypt or Norse mythos. I read a little bit of Celtic mythos recently (mostly Irish, but a little Welsh), but I'm looking for a bit more information on a wider range of cultures. Any dedicated wiki's or suggested reading people can recommend? Also, and tangentially related... I'm trying to find information on Unicorns. And no, this has nothing to do with MLP; I've actually been thinking lately about an image for a short story; a Joan of Arc-type knightly figure astride an armoured warhorse, goring lines of enemies with it's alicorn. I get the feeling that if Warhorses are bad (for the enemy), WarUnicorns would be worse.

Color me intrigued. Joe pointed out that these sound a little similar to the Reshi Great Shells, but I'm not going to complain; that was one of the most interesting parts of WoR to me. I was also reminded a little of the Lion Turtles from the Legend of Korra. I don't have much to say, really, though I do have one question. So far, your information has been focused mainly on the Wanderers- which isn't a bad thing. It's an awesome concept, and if I describe a novel to people I tend to start with that big, high-concept focus of the setting (Constant Storms, Decades of Winter, etc). But I'm curious about how human civilizations have developed. What kind of government exists for them, for instance?

Hmm. I was waiting for all of Alloy to be annotated before reading them, but it seems I really need to get up to date in it. (I also need to read Elantris- I've been delaying that for almost a year now. I just find it to be his worst book, making it hard to sit through.)

"Well, there's my vote- what! I'm the only one to vote for Rysn?" I don't know why I'm surprised; after all, Rysn doesn't do much in the novel. It makes a lot more sense to vote for the other characters (and for the record, I was very tempted to vote Jasnah). Still... I like Rysn. Yes, she's had less screen-time than... just about everyone, really, but something about her really stands out to me. She's very memorable.

Negative rep isn't really handed out too often, unless the person in question is a troll, blatantly offensive, or a babaji bot. You apply it being pressing the red, "down" button instead of the green one. (Unless this is mroe about the negative spren itself, in which case, I'm a lamespren.)

Sombra always kind of reminded me of a Shard. I think it's his mustiness- it made me think of Ruin. Anyway, Sombra returned after being "defeated" (by the Oathpact). It was expressly stated that if he destroyed the crystal empire, fear and hatred would spread thought the rest of Equestria (the commerce). In response to this, hi jinks happened, culminating in Shining Armor getting all shiny (storm light). TLDR; Pony Surge Bingers are a thing. Tremble, o' Internet, and despair.

Don't have WoR in front of me, and I admit, being a Sky reader makes the most sense, buuuut... Was it ever confirmed that he did join them? I remember it being said that he sought them out, but I don't remember anything saying he found or was accepted by them. Heck, I don't even think there's a line that reveals why he was looking for the Skybreakers. Given his mother -seemed- to be associated with them, leading to her trying to execute Shallan, is it possible he went to find them as part of a search for vengeance? Maybe he sought them out to join them, or destroy them, or...something I'm not clever enough to think of.